Before going on to an interview on SiliconAngle.tv and speaking at a Super Session on “How Cisco and VMware Collaborate to Build the Cloud”, Soni Jiandani gave me a couple of minutes to sum up the Cisco innovations announced and on display at VMworld 2011.

Seattle University’s CTO Dan Duffy believes Cisco UCS and a VDI will improve students’ experiences in classes within every college on campus.

It’s that time of year again: Back to School. With all kinds of technology providing new ways to learn, today’s students are taking advantage of mobile devices and tablets to log on to classes remotely from home, using online learning tools, and turning in assignments virtually. For example, The Network, Cisco’s technology news site, recently posted an article about innovative ways in which students are learning: How Cloud Computing is Revolutionizing Education. This article describes how cloud computing provides an innovative alternative to bricks-and-mortar schooling and enables personal and interactive learning.

We’re seeing more educational customers evolving their data centers to take advantage of the latest trends in cloud computing and virtual desktop solutions, to support new student learning approaches. In addition, of course, saving IT costs is a key priority for these educational institutions.

From my perspective, Cisco continues to be a fun place to work for a couple of reasons. First of all, we have a company full of really smart geeks with networking chops second to none. Second, we have the freedom to push boundaries and find ways to make our customers’ lives easier.

Bring those two together and you get some interesting results, like the new VXLAN technology we announced at VMworld today. Working with industry notables, Cisco contributed our networking smarts to help develop a technology that will make a big difference for our customers who want to build clouds. VXLAN is the basis of a scalable cloud network where lots of logical networks (over 16M, courtesy of a 24 bit of logical network identifier) can be created instantly to meet the needs of the even the most complex and dynamic cloud. Indeed, the technology even pushes the boundary of virtual machine migration beyond a layer 2 domain. A group of networking and server virtualization companies have submitted a joint proposal to the IETF to have the VXLAN technology standardized.

To read the IETF submittal, click here. To learn more about why VXLAN should be part of you cloud plans, read this white paper. If you are at VMworld, by all means, swing by the Cisco or VMware booth to see a demo and get your questions answered.

If you are interested in putting VXLAN to test, stay tuned for the upcoming 1.5 release of Nexus 1000V (entering beta in September 2011).

Look for more posts on the topic, but, in the interim, if you have questions, post them here and we’ll get them answered.

Visit Cisco Live Virtual on Wednesday, September 7th at 10am Pacific to view the live TechWiseTV Workshop “SAP and the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS)”. The Cisco Unified Computing System serves as an ideal server platform for SAP since it provides a unique Intel Xeon processor-based industry-standard infrastructure for enterprise-critical applications such as SAP. The Cisco UCS platform offers stateless computing capabilities with dynamic server provisioning, unified fabric, and comprehensive management across both physical and virtual environments for reduced total cost of ownership (TCO). When you combine the UCS platform with Tidal Intelligent Automation software for SAP, you now have a safe, secure, platform that is protected from within the platform itself. As a result the Cisco UCS platform is quickly becoming the server platform of choice for mission-critical solutions from SAP. Experts will be available for live Q&A.

Access is free. Attendees to Cisco Live Virtual can access over 1,600 keynotes, super sessions and technical sessions, as well as network with peers, visit our World of Solutions, and play games.

As summer rolls into fall, my kids are heading back to school. It’s always an interesting transition but this year even more so with my daughter going away to college for the first time. This has brought back a flood of memories from my own college education experiences.

I have always had a passion for education and have a strong belief in continous learning.

Today, so much is available on the web, through social media websites, and online video.

In the world of technology and government, there is so much more to learn every day. New technologies: cloud, cybersecurity and virtualization, new delivery methods: virtual classrooms, online video, and collaboration, and new government requirements and certifications.

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